to happen. as long as the assaults continue, we're going to continue to supply military assistance. >> and directly responding to the russian regime. he says the kremlin is desperate and the invasion is so far an abject failure. that a day after vladimir putin tries to rattle the west. putin says russia has to ability to respond lightning fast to any entefr vengs against his army. today ukraine's east facing constant russian shelling. at least four killed after russian artillery targeted a hospital. the sound of ukrainian pushback right there. a fiery blast hits near a tv tower and disrupts russian propaganda. today the united nations secretary general meets with ukraine's president. that after an up close look at bucha and irpin, two sites of russian war crimes. they call the invasion evil an an absurdity. also today's ukraine's prosecutor general naming ten of suspected war crimes. they have suspected 1100 bodies of civilians dead. bucha's coroner here is describing the everyday horror of his job here. >>. >> translator: we collected them from roadsides, basements. we had to exhume some of the bodies because they were forcibly buried in people's gardens. a lot of them were burned. we found a people of six people, five adults and one child. they were shot, and then burned. >> we are covering this war across the globe. we begin our coverage at the white house with kaitlyn collins. a big move from the president. >> reporter: it is a massive funding request from biden to congress asking for this money for ukraine. it is $33 billion in total. let me break down what's inside of this request from president biden. it's over 20 billion in security assistance. that's for weapons and ammunition that you've seen glow floeing from the united states to ukraine over the last several months. it's $8.5 billion in economic assistance. that's to help the ukrainian government with day-to-day expenses for people still there, and about $3 billion in humanitarian assistance, and food security. that's for people who need it to live on a day-to-day basis. that's what comprises the $33 billion request to congress. it's about twice the size of the last package they asked congress to authorize just to give you a sense of how big this is and how much money we're talking about here. but as the president noted, he said he believes the cost of inaction is much higher than just the 33 billion. he noted the ukrainians are the ones paying the real price because they're paying with their life. this is a request he's making and it also speaks to how long they think this is going to go on. because this is supposed to be for the next five months according to a senior administration official, what they believe ukraine needs in these $33 billion. of course, that also gets to the end of the fiscal year. that's why it's the five-month time line. but it shows how much longer they believe this invasion could go on. and they've said it could go on for much longer than that as well. you also saw president biden today addressing these nuclear threats that you've seen coming from top russian officials including president putin himself. the president called these idle threats and said they're irresponsible to be make theegz remarks about using nuclear weapons, of course. that is something he's addressing. those comments in recent days. but john, i think really one of the big questions here is going to be what congress does with this request. because the president is asking them to act very quickly. it also comes as they have been arguing over covid funding requests from the white house. the president said he doesn't care if they go together. he still thinks both need to be passed but it remains to be seen how congress is going to handle the massive funding request for ukraine. >> we'll watch the debate as it plays forward. a major action by the president today. let's get to ukraine in lviv. scott mclain is there for us. scott, what's the latest on the battlefield? >> reporter: i listened to the president's comments. i seemed like he was almost directly responding to something the russian foreign ministry spokesperson said thaed. the president made clear he did not believe the united states was engaging in a proxy war. 'also made clear that the united states is not attacking russia. they are merely defending ukraine from russian aggression. but earlier today the foreign ministry spokesperson for russia warned that kyiv in the west should understand that strikes in russia will have a harsh response. we do not recommend testing our patience. russia is determined to achieve the goals of this special operation. now, this facilitation of weapons going into ukraine is semantics here. the weapons are being used to de defend ukraine, but there were strikes in russia just the other day, and ukraine didn't directly take responsibility for them. but they might as well have. an adviser to the president saying pretty bluntly that karma is a cruel thing. now, there is fighting that is ramping up in the eastern part of the country, john, some of the toughest battles fought in this part. there are also new comments from the u.s. ambassador to the osce saying that the united states believes that russia will plan to force the ukrainian government to capitulate, and when it comes to local governments in areas that are controlled by russian troops, they will do what they have done before, in hershan, most recently, take over the local government, and in 2014 they hold referendums and have people vote. the united states says those are sham referendums and voting to be under russian control. also, the u.n. secretary general is here in ukraine. he toured these kyiv suburbs as you mentioned earlier. he is expected to meet with the president of ukraine, zelenskyy, and he is trying to get something tangible out of these meetings. he was in moscow on tuesday, and he managed to get from vladimir putin at least an agreement in principle to work with the u.n. and the red cross to facilitate the evacuation of civilians in mariupol. now the challenge is actually turning that in principle agreement into something that has more detail in it and might actually work on the ground. >> let's certainly hope that something comes of that to help the people trapped in mariupol and elsewhere. as you know better than i because you're on the ground, that has been a frustrating process in the past. scott live in lviv. grateful for the reporting. let's get important feedback from general eaten. general, grateful for your time today. tiff battlefield up. we'll go through some of the particulars in a minute. when you hear the president of the united states saying i need $33 billion for the next several months on top of $14 billion already in the pipeline, what does that tell you about the assessment at the white house that the pentagon of how long this is going to go on? >> john, thank you very much for having me. listens to the president, he is so particulate own spot on on what we need to do. we're in right now what we say in the logistics community, a push phase. we are pushing goods and supplies towards president zelenskyy at a rate that is appropriate for what he is facing. the difference about push is that we collectively understand what he needs, and we just start making that happen. we start pushing supplies to a degree that is going to satisfy the needs of the men and women on the front. >> you have a war of words between the kremlin and the white house and the other allies. you also have the war on the battlefield. this is the map, static map here. you see the russians wanted to take kyiv. they failed and they have now -- ukrainians have taken back this area. the russians are making gains generally in the east. i want to let our viewers look at this from a time lapse perspective. this is the first week of march. the red is newly seized territory from the russians. back in the 5th of march, they were approaching kyiv. watch at this plays out. you see the russians gaining ground first and then losing the ground here but gaining ground here across. so the new aggression, the new violence is mostly here in the east. what do you see as the russian goal? do you see an attempt to get a crescent like this? are they trying to cut the country like this, or do they want to come all the way over to odesa and beyond? >> john, i believe they want to consolidate the previous gains from years ago plus today in the east, and president putin right now is desperately looking for an off ramp. he is looking for with nine may on his horizon, here's what we have, now we can declare victory, and don't make us come back, ukraine. it's important to note that about 20 years ago president putin was the equivalent to the national security adviser here. and he developed a policy that may still be in place. i suspect it is. of use of a nuclear weapon to, quote, his quote, deescalate the situation. russia is losing right now. they are disorganized and all they've got right now is massed artillery with a threat of maneuver courses right behind it. so this is not going well for russia. the threat of his so-called deescalation with a nuclear weapon is a credible problem for the west for nato, for the united states. and we need to remove what some people call strategic or deliberate ambiguity and make sure that russia understands that the following will happen if he introduces a nuclear weapon because things are not going well for him today. >> well, do you believe -- is that something the president should say sni want to bring up a map of the region to remind people. you have the circle of nato countries around ukraine bordering russia up here. the president continues to say no american boots on the ground. no nato, no fly zone. those would be military steps to help ukraine. in terms of deterring putin from something that's reckless and dangerous, what must the president do? lay it out clearly in words or are there actions? >> john, i hesitate to get into the world of diplomacy plus military. we have brilliant men and women doing it for the president right now. what i would offer is that we need to introduce a credible naval threat from nato into the black sea to make sure that mr. putin understands that we do not consider that to be a russian lake. that we consider any threat of an amphibious action into the south near to odesa to aid and abet what's going on in the south to be a problem. and to -- we don't have to say it, but just to introduce a capability in the region, in the black sea, to make sure that mr. putin understands that there is a real -- a capable threat right around his warships, and we know that he is extremely sensitive right now about his navy in the black sea. >> general, grateful for your time and insights. appreciate it. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. up next for us, the economy sends up a flair. new numbers raise the possibility of recession. plus democrats already have a heap of election-year challenges. one, trying to pass a pared down version of t their once ambitio agenda. scapaper. a hunter. because you didn't settle for ordininary. same goes for your equipment. versatile, powerful, durable kubota equipment. more goes into it. so you get more out of it. “few of us will ever dive so deep into our cars, but those who do venture down into the nuts and bolts...” “you have to give all of yourself and that's when you do your bes” fothe best audio entertainment and orytelling. audible. check out this vrbo. oh man. ♪ come on. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -fixed. -that's my son. he always takes care of his mama. ooh, what's up with granny's casserole? 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(soft music) ♪ ( ♪ ) ( ♪ ) ( ♪ ) ( ♪ ) prizing new numbers from the government. the u.s. economy shrank in the first quarter of 2022. the gross domestic product declined at a rate of 1 .4 %. the numbers show the worst quarter in two years. and remind us the pandemic economic disruption is anything but over. let's get some behind the numbers now with our business reporter matt eagan. what does this tell us? >> this is one of the more confusing gdp reports i've seen. the headline is ugly. worst quarter for the economy in nearly two years. first contraction in the gdp since that epic collapse in the spring of 2020. but when you actually go under the hood, you can see there's some temporary factors here that masked underlying strength in the economy. first, omicron disrupted businesses and covid relief to households and businesses lapsed. secondly, supply disruptions and strong demand caused imports to spike. and trade really accounts for all of this decline in gdp. but there's some bright spots, too. a positive consumer spending, spending accelerated. businesses were investing in factory and equipment at a strong pace. i think all this explains why we shouldn't panic about this report. it does not seem to suggest that recession is imminent or anything like that. an economist told me that the economy is still growing at a pace that is going to bring unemployment down. remember, we're looking at just 3 .6% unemployment. that is down dramatically from nearly 15% two years ago. today's gdp report looks like a head fake. the economy is expected to return to growth. the big question is what does the economy look like a year from now? that's when high inflation and the fed's rate hikes could raise the risk of a recession. >> you focus on a year from now. a lot of people are focusing on november as well in this town. that's the conversation. matt eagan, appreciate the important context, and the context is important. economically matt laid it out herely, this is one warning sign among other signs. it's a warning sign politically for biden and his democratic party. most democrats see the next several weeks from now until memorial day recess of their last opportunity to pass some of the ambitious things they wanted to take care of. joining me now, our panel. matt laid it out perfectly. this is a bad headline, but if you look under the hood, the economy is still in pretty good shape. let's put it up. if you're joe biden and the democrats, 6.6 million jobs added in biden's first year. the unemployment rate 3.6%. wow. matt eagan says it may go down yet. if you're the republicans, you say joe biden's economy is shrinking. welcome to politics. >> welcome to politics but also welcome to looking at the impact of what happens on a macro level. 6 million jobs gained. if you're just regular old me and you're going to the grocery store, you find that everything is more expensive these days. it's more expensive to fill up your car, that's what republicans are focusing on. they believe no matter what goes on, what's going on with the former president and in their own leadership, or even other outside factors such as the war overseas, that -- those domestic issues are ultimately where the battles will be won and lost this november. >> and so that is one of the reasons we can listen. this is pelosi and schumer, the speaker of the house, the leader of the democrats. both of them at risk of losing their jobs with the elections. saying don't worry, we understand it's tough out there. we got you. >> lowering cost at the pump, lowering costs at the kitchen table, that's what democrats are about. >> democrats are focussed like a laser on developing and passing legislation to lower costs and improve american's daily lives. it is our top priority. >> sounds great. but they do not have a very great track record of passing and getting legislation on important issues. now these economic issues to the president's desk. they don't. >> the prospects are really pretty dim on capitol hill. there's just not a lot of -- well, first of all, they don't have the majorities really to push anything of huge significance. secondly, i think there's a lot of difficulty finding what is the sort of middle ground between all the different factions of the democratic party on an agenda that can pass in both the house and the senate? and they are running out of time. in the -- in the white house's thinking and much of the last six months, they were hoping that just by august, september, october, that the outlook would improve markedly. that the economy would be recovering at a more normal pace. that people would feel better about covid, and now i think they're facing the prospect that the situation with inflation and also this kind of uncertainty with gas prices and trade being unsettled, just won't resolve in time for them to have a good narrative for the american public going into november. >> when it comes to the point they're raising, let's go something. let's do something now. that people in america who think the town has lost touch with their lives that think okay c they're trying to help me, at least they're trying. nothing has changed in the math. there's still a 50/50 senate. pelosi has five or six vote margin in the house. the margin is there, but they know that and know that through their failures of last year. someone is taking too many edibles if they -- pause on that. it's worth a laugh. if they think they can deal with the slimmed down build back better plan in july or august. congress simply can't deal with it. it's now or never. and heading toward never. so what is the slimmed down build back better reconciliation plan? maybe a piece of climate? maybe a piece of health care? but if you're going to do inflation, you're going to do gas prices, are they going to try to do another package, or why not bring to the floor here's a gas price bill? here's another inflation bill? here's your climate bill, individually? >> there's two things going on right now. one, there is senator joe manchin trying to work with a bipartisan group on a potential energy bill. but people are concerned that may take him away from reckon stilluation. he may want to see where it goes before he and others can fully see what they can get past party line through a reconciliation package. there are surface level conversations going on about what's going on in the bigger pac package. it is like you said, climate, prescription drug reform and potentially deficit reduction. these conversations are not happening at a really intense level yet. and as you noted, they only have about a month left before things get really serious -- before they get too close to the midterms and things don't become possible the closer you get to the midterms. so they're running up against the clock, and right now it isn't looking good. the white house officials have not had really intense conversations with manchin or cinema who are the two key senators. >> i want to get this on the record. veteran democratic pollster focussed on -- what's the word how democrats use about how things are going on in the country? frustrated, disbelief, aggravated, discouraged, unsure, worrying, resigned, frightened. up next, president biden asks congress for new authority to seize russian assets and funnel the proceeds to ukraine. er 360 smart bed is on sale now. why choose proven quality sleep from sleep number? because the sleep number 360 smart bed is really smart. it senses your m movement and automatically adjusts to help keep you both cocomfortable all night. it's also temperature balancing, so yoyou stay cool. it's so smart it knows exactly how long, howw well, and when you slept. sleep number takes care of the science, all you have to do is sleep. and now, save $500 on the sleep number 360 c4 smart bed, queen now only $1,299. lowest price ever! only for a limited time. to learn more, go to sleepnumber.com ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ this is vuity™, the first and only fda approved eye-drop that improves age-related blurry near vision. wait, what? it sounded like you just said an eye drop that may help you see up close. i did. it's an innovative way to... so, wait. i don't always have to wear reading glasses? 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(vo) with 5g ultra wideband in many more cities, you get up to 10 times the speed at no extra cost. verizon is going ultra, so your business can get more. you need an ecolab scientific clean here. and here. which is why the scientific expertise that helps operating rooms stay clean, now helps the places you go too. look for the ecolab science certified seal. you need an ecolab scientific clean here. and here. which is why the scientific expertise that helps operating rooms stay clean, now helps the places you go too. look for the ecolab science certified seal. president biden last hour responding to some of the tough words nuclear saber rattling out of the kremlin. and putin's vow to meet foreign interference in ukraine with lightning fast speed. >> the desperation that russia is feeling about their abject failure in being able to do what they set out to do. no one should be making idle comments about the use of nuclear weapons or the possibility of the use of that. it's irresponsible. >> let's take a closer look at president biden's new request that congress aproou an additional $33 billion in aide for ukraine. it's more than double the $14 billion the united states is already pouring into the fight. much of the new money would go to new weapons and military assistance. there's also additional humanitarian aid and money to help ukraine keep its government and schools up and running. our panel is back with me. the interest, the fact that it's double. in the last couple months you've already asked for 14. that's in the pipeline. double that for five months. the president says putin is failing. however, this is proof the president thinks this is going on for months. >> exactly. that the united states really is buckling up for the long haul here where this is a conflict that not only requires transferring weapons that the united states already has, but potentially incentivizing even the military complex to arm ukraine sufficiently. it's been interesting just in the last week or so, week and a half, let's say, the rhetoric from president biden has shifted. much more aggressive. much more firm about the united states wanting putin to lose this war. but also after this visit by secretary austin and blinken over the weekend, there's just a sense now that the united states government, they have a sense of what's going on on the ground, and they're moving aggressively to give the ukrainians what they need for this part of the conflict which everyone says is going to be potentially very protracted, difficult, necessary that there is heavy weaponry, but the long-term needs that the ukrainian government needs to remain alive and viable, but also to continue to fight and defeat the russians, not just defend themselves but defeat the russians. >> and the president also seems determined. the remarks you heard at the beginning, the general in the program, saying putin before he became president had an -- putin has used language. the president seems to say we're not going to blink. we're not going to blink. we're in the fight. and making clear he's going to keep asking congress for money, keep sending heavier weapons and he believes he can keep the alliance together. >> right, and that's been his flos si all along. emphasizing this is not aggression on the u.s. and alliance's part. we are doing this to defend ukraine. russia was the first aggressor, and the world is helping to help ukraine defend themselves to obviously stave off the propaganda coming from the russian officials, but that's how he has operated all along. certainly how he will in the months ahead, but yes, i was floored to see the 33 billion figure that came across this morning, because they did indicate, the administration officials indicated that the money was getting low. that 14 billion was getting low fast, but this really shows that the u.s. is dedicated for potentially long haul. >> and beyond the money request, the president wants new powers. there are limits when you freeze or seize assets. he wants new authority, the president, to seize and forfeit the assets. essentially, you seize a yacht or property, then you sell it. he wants the money to go back to ukraine. expand the time limits to follow the money. that's saying we can find more financial resources for ukraine, but that's a direct poke at putin to try to get the wealthy russians to begin to stir up dissent. >> yes. these actions do know show that the u.s. thinks this is going to go on for a long time. they also are clearly signals to putin, clearly signals to russia that look, the u.s. is in this fight. they're going to stay in it, and they're going to try to stay united with eu allies and with nato, because time and time again, biden keeps talking about we are not going to let our resolve go. that the u.s. is committed to this, and so showing that he's trying to find other avenues of how exactly can i get at the oligarchs? how exactly can we squeeze russia's economy and people around putin? that's what he's doing right there. and it was striking in his comments this morning, he is matching it with this careful rhetoric of we are not attacking russia. this is not an attack on russia. they started this first. >> interesting. next week he's going to a military plant in alabama where they make javelin missiles essentially to thank american workers after supplying the fight. he's say nothing boots on the ground, but he's making clear that we're going to keep it up. it's a fascinating confrontation. major news on vaccines and the covid fight for children under five, and younger. we'll have the details next. i'll pick this one up. i earn 3% cash back on dining including takeout with chase freedom unlimited. so, it's not a problem at all. yoguys aren't gonna give me the fake bill fight? 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(mom) which reminds me, i've been meaning to tell you, i got that 995 plan from colonial penn. -the life insurance on tv! -just $9.95 a month to help you pay my funeral expenses. what about your family, son? maybe i should get the 995 plan too. thing is, this has been a rough year for my business, ma. money's tight. still, for $9.95 a month... i don't have a good excuse, do i? i'm jonathan for colonial penn life insurance company. if you're age 50 to 85, just $9.95 a month buys whole life insurance with guaranteed acceptance. you cannot be turned down for any health reason. there are no health questions. guaranteed lifetime coverage. your insurance can never be cancelled. just pay your premiums. guaranteed lifetime rate lock. your rate can never increase. it's locked in as soon as you're covered and stays the same for the rest of your life. call now for free information. (soft music) ♪ shopping on public wifi is sketchy. but with aura digital security, my devices are protected in like 3 minutes. protect your wifi, credit, passwords and more. try for free at aura.com i should buy this... oooh socks! major news today for millions of parents with young children and babies. moderna announcing this morning it will seek emergency authorization use for its covid vaccine for kids. six months old through five. they say that t studies show strong antibody response. and it believes the vaccine will protect children against the covid-19 virus. >> there is a difference in the efficacy when you look at the data in the vaccines kids two and under and those from the two to five years old. right? >> there is, john. i'm going to preface this before anyone sees the numbers and goes, what's the big deal about it? these numbers are not stunning. we remember 95% efficacy for the original vaccine in the end of 2020. that's not what this is. omicron is much more resistance to the vaccine. we have 51% efficacy for children six months to two years and 37% efficacy for ages two to five years. it did create antibodies. and that's efficacy against getting covid-19 to begin with. it's thought the efficacy really does protect your child from ending up in the hospital or dying. here's the key here. what are fopfizer's numbers goi to look like? you see two dose here. pfizer will be lee doses. dr. anthony fauci announced a reluctance to have both of these out there. this may become a we're going to approve or authorize pfizer or moderna. it may come to that. >> if that's the case, let's walk through the process. mo der have a, the fda, how will this play out? >> the fda can do all of this themselves. sometimes they don't consult their outside advisers. if they don't, there will be criticism. these are little children and this gets confusing with the two different vaccines. the hope is they will convene their outside advisers. >> clarity. we would like clarity. elizabeth cohen, grateful for the great reporting. up next, live to ohio. tuesday's primary day and the senate race in ohio, a big, big early test of donald trump's sway over republican voters. this dad and daughter were driving when they got a crack in their windshield. 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(camera shutters) or the places we didn't go. ♪ ♪ and that kicks off a month of key primaries among the big questions we'll start to answer, how much sway does donald trump still have over the gop? i say that because in a number of races, including in the ohio senate race, trump has a candidate but other republican factions have other candidates. this kicks off the month of may. indiana has a primary on tuesday. no big senate race there. by the end of the month, starts in ohio. by the end of the month, a key test in north carolina, georgia, alabama, arkansas as well has a senate primary. we will know by the end of may, at least a test, of how much donald trump sway still holds. in ohio his account, he was late to this, but his candidate in the senate race is j.d. vance. other republican factions say no. some of them support another candidate, josh van dell. can a group like the club for growth which is spending a ton of money in ohio, beat donald trump? >> i might have to vote for hillary clinton. >> people who voted for trump for racist reasons. >> where does he get off saying that? >> we've got our own eyes own our own ears. j.d. vance is a fraud. >> club for clothe action is responsible for the content of this ad. >> cnn's jeff zeleny is on the ground in columbus, ohio. gabby is with us in studio. this is a huge test. the club for growth which has been a -- let me call it a thorn in the side of many recumbent republicans is now taking on donald trump. >> they are. and it's not going necessarily well for them. i mean, without question, this is the most competitive senate primary we're seeing on the republican side. and nowhere else have we seen donald trump pit himself against allies like we have in ohio. his endorsement of j.d. vance in this race effectively destroyed the relationship that he had with the club for growth as we saw with those ads. i'm told that trump has not spoken to club for growth president david mcintosh since they doubled down on the ads and he has zero interest in patching up the relationship any time soon. the dissolvement of that relationship with the club really shows how nasty this race has become. and it's probably going to get even uglier between now and next tuesday. >> yes. in the few days. jeff, you're on the ground. i want to give our viewers a chance. j.d. vance, the club for growth ad is correct. in 2016 he thought donald trump was horrible. now he explains himself this way as he's grateful for that endorsement. >> i'm sure you've seen the advertisements accusing me of being a never-trumper. i didn't like him in 20 16. i think a lot of republicans didn't love trump in 2016. the difference is i've actually had the honesty to admit that i was wrong. amazingly in politics. just admit you were wrong. it's that simple. >> a lot of politicians don't admit they were wrong or decide to change their position because they think they need to be close to trump. can he sell it? >> that is the question. and you could here vance confronting really the elephant in the room directly there as we spent time with him on the campaign trail yesterday talking about the words that he had said previously, and that is exactly what is on the minds of many republican voters. that's exactly what many that we spoke to yesterday are saying. and some are saying look, if president trump can forgive and forget, so can we. we also ran into at least half as many who said look, they're still bothered that they're assessing the field. the challenge is this is a crowded primary field, and j.d. vance isn't well-known among the republican family. this is expected to be a low turnout next week in part because the primaries have been split. there's been a legal challenge over redistricting. the state primaries are in august. the federal races are next week. that complicated everything, but it's a big test to the former president, but it's also a sense of the 25% or so of the electorate that's undecided. will they follow the president or not? it's a close race. the governor's race, dewine an establishment candidate, he can also play a role in some of the senate races as well. so this is a fascinating test for trump coming now in just five days. >> you mentioned talking to voters. let's listen to some of the voters. i think it's critical as we deploy our reporters across the country. let's been to voters. they often speak differently than we do in washington. let's listen to a couple. >> i think it's great that trump came out endorsed him. but i'm not making my decision based on trump's choice. i'm basing it on what j.d. vance stands for, or any of the candidates stand for. >> i couldn't in good faith vote for him because of things he said against trump, but when trump endorsed him, i thought okay, i can vote for him now. >> jeff zeleny, not your first rodeo. is it a sense most of trump's voters are still extremely loyal or just because he's not in office anymore, because there are other issues like inflation, are they drifting away? >> john, i still think we have to say they're extremely loyal here. the difference in this race is a lot of these voters already have their minds made up. are they loyal enough to change their minds? that's an open question. for those who are undecided, i think the majority of people we spoke with and our sense on the ground talking to a variety of people, that trump endorsement is gold for j.d. vance. without it, he would be in the bottom tier of the candidates. with it, he's in the top tier. the question, can he close strong here? there are going to be several other top name republicans. ted cruz is supporting josh vandell. this is certainly too close to call, but j.d. vance without a doubt has momentum heading into the final stretch. >> when you see the split, gabby, team trump essentially with vance. you see the club for growth playing out in ohio. it's similar in other states. may is going to teach us a ton about donald trump's sway. >> it is. and it's not just these senate primaries. i mean, there will be governor contests. there are congressional races where donald trump has made endorsements that are dice ri right now. they could either give him a boost to his score card overall or open up new questions about his influence over the republican party, but i do want to go back to that fox news poll that we had on screen that showed that 25 % of voters in ohio are still undecided four days before the primary. that's a big number, and shows just how unpredictable this race is. >> volatility still with us. been with us for the last several days and still with us right now. jeff zeleny on the ground for us in ohio. grateful for the reporting. up next for us, the january 6th committee gets a crack at yes, giuliani. ♪ you had meme at allison® 10-speed transmission. ♪ features available on gmc sierra heavy duty. premium and capable. that's professional grade from gmc. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? 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(vo) with 5g ultra wideband in many more cities, you get up to 10 times the speed at no extra cost. verizon is going ultra, so your business can get more. topping our political radar, joe biden making his first visit to asia as president next month with stops in south korea and japan. president biden will meet with the new south korean president days after his inauguration, and in tokyo he'll meet with japan's prime minister and australia and india. the white house says this visit meant to deepen u.s. ties across the region. rudy giuliani expected to appear before the house committee next month. the testimony comes after months of negotiations between lawmakers and giuliani who served as president trump's personal lawyer. the panel alleges giuliani actively worked to overturn the 2020 election. and new york democrats must now recreate the state's new congressional court. after there were boundaries that constitute unlawful gerrymandering. it will likely push back the planned primaries from january 28th th until august. stanley tucci is back. brand new episodes, new food and new episodes. "searching for italy" sunday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. don't forget, you can also listen to our podcast. download "inside politics" wherever you get your podcast. appreciate your time. we'll see you back here tomorrow. ana cabrera picks up our coverage right now. hello. thank you for joining us. i'm ana cabrera in new york. it was nine weeks ago cede that russia launched an unprovoked war on ukraine and the kremlin is escalating the attacks and threats. vladimir putin vowing to retaliate against any country that tries to interfere. many analysts believe it's an implied threat of nuclear weapons. a short time ago president biden announced he'll ask congress for 33 billion